NOVEL WEB Chapter 57: 57
Chapter 57 — Secret Mission in the Spotlight
The night after SeoulPot's AI presentation, the atmosphere in Gevran's penthouse room was still blazing. Not from anger or stress—but from adrenaline. The five members of G-Force were like kids who'd just been given the coolest toy ever. They had just shaken the world of Korean technology… maybe even the world.
"I can't sleep!" Jiwan paced back and forth, tossing his shirt in the air.
"Don't turn on the AC, I'm live," Mi Yong raised her phone, smiling sweetly at the camera. "Hiii guys! We just made history! Today, we officially changed Korea forever! SeoulPot isn't just a restaurant, it's... the future!"
"And that future… could go bankrupt if we're not ready," Haesung said, flipping through a pile of papers. "The media will start digging, the government will investigate. This isn't just success—it's uncharted tech."
Gevran stood in the middle of the room, staring at the AI blueprint hologram on the tablet Jiwan and Haesung developed. It displayed the entire system of robotic servers, customer recognition algorithms, and flavor-predictive intelligence.
"I have an idea," he finally said. "Let's form an internal research team. But with top-tier security. We're no longer just college kids selling ramen on campus. We're now high-value targets."
Eunwoo, who had been admiring himself in the window, suddenly chimed in, "Wait—do you mean like… a Secret Project?"
Gevran nodded. "A Secret Lab. Beneath SeoulPot's main kitchen. We'll develop the next prototypes. But the system has to be unhackable. Not even the government should know the full scope."
Jiwan lit up. "This is insane! I'll build a custom security chip! The code will be a hybrid quantum encryption. But we'll need a physical system... something that's completely offline."
Haesung added, "I know a Harvard alum. Cyber defense engineer. But we'll need a secure, unregistered location."
Mi Yong ended her livestream. "Don't tell me... you want to build a secret base like the Avengers?"
"More like... a Batcave," said Gevran with a half-smile. "But with waitress robots, not Batmobiles."
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The Secret Mission Begins
In the days that followed, G-Force looked like regular students by day. They attended classes, went to seminars, even participated in campus clubs. But by night?
They snuck into the underground level beneath SeoulPot's kitchen—once a Korean War-era bunker. Behind an old iron door sealed in concrete, they found a hidden space the size of a basketball court. A former shelter.
Jiwan flipped on the emergency neon lights, and their eyes lit up.
"This place… is perfect," said Eunwoo.
Gevran named the operation: Project Prometheus.
Haesung became the head of digital and legal security, Jiwan the out-of-the-box CTO, Eunwoo took charge of internal branding and aesthetics, while Mi Yong documented the entire development for future investor reels.
"I can't believe this... we're like a sci-fi startup," Mi Yong said while filming Jiwan wiring custom cables.
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A New Threat Amid the Spotlight
But peace didn't last.
Two weeks after SeoulPot's grand opening, international media exploded with headlines:
"South Korean Restaurant Pioneers Global AI Hospitality."
"Is SeoulPot Crossing the Line in Robotic Ethics?"
"Bill Gates and Elon Musk to Send Investigative Teams."
Gevran read the headlines over breakfast with his father, Jido, in the dining room.
"Building a new world means being ready for the world to watch your every move," said Jido calmly. "You and your friends have moved too fast. The world might not be ready… or worse, they'll want to steal it."
"That's why we kept Project Prometheus secret, Appa."
Jido set down his teacup and looked sharply at his son. "Make sure not a single byte of data leaks. From this moment on… you're not just my son. You're a symbol."
Gevran nodded. In his heart, he knew… this was only the beginning.
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Back to Campus, But Never the Same
Seoul University had changed.
Students now talked about G-Force like they were pop idols. Robot waitress TikTok videos had gone viral. Even professors began asking technical questions during lectures.
"Gevran, can you explain the deep learning approach used in SeoulPot's AI system?" asked a Computer Science professor.
"Uh… we use a hybrid neural network combined with reinforcement learning. But… sorry sir, the full details are still patent-pending," Gevran replied with a smile.
Cain Seo-Jun? He wasn't staying quiet.
During a televised campus debate, Cain raised a provocative point:
"Isn't it dangerous for one group of students to monopolize cutting-edge technology?"
Gevran gave a cold smile. "If you're afraid of change, feel free to keep using pagers and payphones. But we... we're moving forward."
Laughter and applause erupted throughout the room.
Backstage, Haesung patted Gevran's shoulder. "Score: 1–0."
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Next Insane Mission: SeoulPot 2.0
At their next midnight meeting, Jiwan brought an even crazier idea.
"What if the robot doesn't just serve food? What if it could cook? With precision sensors like a human hand!"
"Nobody's done that," said Haesung.
"Exactly," shouted Mi Yong. "Because no one's us!"
Gevran nodded. "Let's prove it again. We're not just a restaurant. We're a new industrial revolution."
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The Beginning of Project Prometheus
That day, autumn winds pierced the city of Seoul. Dry leaves flew across the Seoul University campus. But beneath the surface—literally—something massive was beginning.
A hidden room under the engineering faculty's building, once a wartime shelter, was now the site of the craziest experiment of the century: Project Prometheus.
"If this fails, we might get hunted by the government or abducted by a secret agency," muttered Gevran, standing before a 3-meter digital whiteboard full of sketches, formulas, and the name:
S1NTHA — Sentient Neural Technology & Human Assistant.
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A Serious Crazy Plan:
Gevran gathered the G-Force team at midnight in SeoulPot HQ's basement. He introduced the plan to build the world's first sentient AI and robot. Park Jiwan was instantly hyped and wanted to name it "Oppa 3000."
Roles Assigned:
Mi Yong handled secret sponsors and silent investors.
Ryu Haesung began preparing legal documents to create a ghost tech company under an alias.
Eunwoo… was busy designing logos and robot color palettes to make them "aesthetic."
Finding Underground Scientists:
Through Haesung's father's contacts and Mi Yong's investors, they recruited three genius but socially problematic dropouts from MIT, Tokyo Tech, and KAIST. One of them was Dr. Levi, expelled for his extreme neural AI experiments.
Cain Seo-Jun Gets Suspicious:
Cain became suspicious due to G-Force's frequent absences from campus and heard rumors of a secret lab. He hired spies to infiltrate, but failed thanks to Jiwan's ultra-secure systems.
First Prototype Success:
After weeks of nonstop work, they finally succeeded. The first sentient AI capable of speech, learning, and data absorption. Its form: a robot with a blank, innocent face named S1NTHA.
Its first words upon activation?
"Was I born… to do the dishes?"
World Reaction:
After being tested secretly in SeoulPot's kitchen, S1NTHA went viral when a vlogger accidentally recorded it. Korean and global media went wild. The government launched investigations.
Emergency Meeting:
G-Force had to decide—go public or stay hidden?
Gevran finally said:
"We're not just crazy students.
We're going to change the world."
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